Can I decline to give professional clearance?

Gem7321

I have a pain in the neck client who I am going to disengage. The thing is, I wouldn't wish this client on any other accountant, can I decline professional clearance on the grounds that the client is a pain, doesn't pay his self assessment and consistently fails to take my advice? Are these genuine reasons why another accountant should not accept the appointment? Any advice/experiences gratefully received!

burg

WHA has given some good advice. An alternative once you have authority to release info from the client is to just give the potential new accountant a call and have a chat. I have done this before when I 'sacked' a client and the new accountant was someone I knew fairly well. I gave them the heads up. They decided to have the info and make a decision once they had met the client. We just remained disengaged and left it at that. You may wish though to just let the client go so you don't have to deal with them?